Afghanistan…

August25

I am blown away by how many people are surprised by what happened in Afghanistan. Frankly, I think it is a miracle Iraq is still “operating” with a government and hasn’t fallen in a similar way.

This piece by Bob Lefsetz perfectly sums up how I feel about it.

Love his quote here:

In the west we were worried about religious governments and the mistreatment of women, then again, many in the U.S. are auguring for religious government and are involved in the personal health of women while they refuse to be inoculated against a pandemic. Don’t try to employ logic, it doesn’t apply.

LOL, fun stuff.

In general…

  • I do not give a flying shit about Afghanistan.
  • I do care about the people of Afghanistan… but they need to manifest their own destiny. If the majority of people in Afghanistan want a religiously based government that is up to them. If they don’t want that… then start fighting for what you want or flee and build a new life somewhere else (yes I am very aware that is incredibly hard to do).
  • Would I want the USA to bring in 500,000+ Afghan refugees? Yes, but with the huge caveat of only if they have programs to integrate them into communities and American society. That means providing housing and their needs while providing a mandatory 3-5 year educational process. Not only to teach them English but about American society, culture, and ideals. That is clearly impossible politically and operationally. Especially considering how the USA treats its own citizens who can’t afford health care, a college education, or rent.
  • I do think democratic governments should build programs to encourage and foster long-term democracy ideals, cultural values that are based on the rule of law, and human rights. This should be thought out as a 1,000-year project (Peace Corps is a good example of a program like this). That said… the USA can’t do this internally so what chance do they have of doing this anywhere else. The USA is currently in an ongoing low-level coup attempt by one political party while ~50% of that same party’s voters think that the political leaders in the other political party are conducting blood sacrifices of children and follow a made-up “internet prophet” named Q. I wouldn’t be surprised if Americans start burning witches in the next 10 years…
  • The USA, Europe, and other countries are still ultimately responsible for protecting their interest and their citizen’s safety. At the end of the day, that means killing people and groups that threaten those interests. I am terrified by the advances happening with drones and their ability to be weaponized cheaply (same for some of the AI advances to allow them to operate on their own).
  • The USA clearly does not have the will or capabilities to build democracies or the culture you need to support democracy abroad. The USA can’t even build that culture in its own country, what hope does it have to do that anywhere else.
  • I worry greatly about the impact refugees/immigrants have on politics in Europe and the USA. I do not want to see right-wing governments use fear and hate to win elections based on fear. It is an old playbook and I do not want to see democracy die and fascism or executive dictatorships emerge.
  • I’d love to see the USA roll out a 50-year plan to double the population to 700 million people through immigration (highly unlikely). I love the Canadian immigration model, especially when it comes to refugees and integrating them into the community and culture. That isn’t an easy process and the USA could never do that in the current political climate.

I was for the Iraq war when I was younger and I was very wrong.

I did not believe that Iraq had any WMDs, that was clearly made up. But, I was clouded by a belief in American competence, a belief that establishing democracy was achievable on a short scale, and a total lack of understanding of the huge impact culture has on this process. 

I thought the American government would be willing to pay the price to establish a new democracy. They were not…  and they tried to prevent the loss of life of their people while fucking just about everyone else. I was under no illusions about how hard the project would be and I wanted there to be a draft. Americans should have had the will to send all their kids to die if the goal was worthwhile. Otherwise, Americans should not have been there (and, we clearly should not have).

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This is bwb’s personal blog, so he can share his thoughts with the world, however scary or silly they might be. Plus family and friends can track what I am up to, and where I am in the world.

I am pretty simple. I love Mangos. I love the ocean (although mostly at sunset, as I’m a ginger). I love to travel, eat exotic food, do long bike rides, read, and use my imagination. At some point, I decided it was better to be a pirate captain than an admiral. I am a globalist and see the entire world as my responsibility and playground. And I am married to an amazing woman who makes life even more fun :)! And we are now the proud parents of Calico Jack :).


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